A study of parental involvement in pediatric hospital care : implications for clinical practice

• BACKGROUND: Although it has become common practice for parents to stay with their sick child in hospital, most hospitals lack routines and staff guidelines for involving parents in care processes and decisions.AIM: To gain a deeper understanding of factors that influence parental involvement and to clarify the parental role in the hospital care of chronically ill children.METHODS: Semistructured interviews with 14 parents of chronically ill children.RESULTS: Four themes were identified: support, professionalism, work environment, and responsibility. These themes describe the experience and perceptions of parents who regularly spend time in the hospital with their children.CONCLUSIONS: Clinical practices regarding parental involvement need to be established to optimize the hospital care of chronically ill children.

Keyword

Adaptation; Psychological

Adult

Caregivers/psychology

Child

Child; Hospitalized/psychology

Critical Illness/nursing/psychology

Female

Hospitals; Pediatric/standards

Human

Intensive Care Units; Pediatric/standards

Male

Nurse-Patient Relations

Parent-Child Relations

Parents/psychology

Pediatric Nursing/*standards

Professional-Family Relations

Quality Assurance; Health Care

Questionnaires

Support; Non-U.S. Gov't

Sweden

Time Factors

Publication and Content Type

ref (subject category)

art (subject category)